September 11, 2008

1. Tom Brady’s injury may be the most crushing Week 1 injury in NFL History. After taking his team to 18-0 and losing in the Super Bowl, I’m sure there is nothing more that Tom Terrific would have loved to do is add another ring to his collection. But with his season-ending injury, Tom will not get the chance to do that this season. But hold your horses my friends, Tom’s team, the Patriots, still have a chance considering they still have one of the mosttalented rosters in the league. Don’t count these Patriots out yet, as remember Tom Brady got his big chance when Drew Beldsoe went down in Week 2. And what did Brady and the Patriots do that season? Oh yeah, that’s right, they upset the Rams in the Super Bowl and began their march to a dynasty of this decade. Only time will tell if Matt Cassell can duplicate what Brady did that season.

2. The Cowboys offense is scary good. I am legitimately scared for my San Francisco 49ers when they go to Texas Stadium to take on these guys. Romo and Owens look like they have been playing together for years as they just seem to always be on the same page. Jason Witten is a solid a tight end that most teams would kill to have on their roster. Marion Barber added two more one yard touchdowns to his stats. Has there ever been a guy that scores more one yard touchdowns than him. I’m calling it, he will own that record someday.

3. Just as a side note to thought number 2, with his touchdown reception against the Browns on Sunday, Owens has tied former Minnesota Vikings great Cris Carter on the all-time receiving touchdowns list with 130. He’s only behind some guy named Rice who played with in San Fran. Anybody ever hear of this character? Congrats to you T.O.

4. When finally given a shot to be a starter, Michael Turner showed why he might be one of the most talented running backs in the league. After sitting behind LT for the past couple of years, Turner exploded for 220 yards and 2 tocuhdowns, albeit against the hapless Detroit Lions. Now I know why the Chargers always kept this guy around, because if LT ever went down, this guy would be just as good to have in your backfield.

5. Kudos to rookie quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. Both QBs led their clubs to Week 1 wins, while making their first starts. Flacco, who played at Division 1-AA Delaware was able to put perform former USC Trojan standout Carson Palmer. Who says you have to be from a major college to be a big-time pro in the NFL. On the other hand, Ryan allowed Falcons fans to shout, “Vick who?” Let’s see how these guys do in Week 2 as the Falcons travel to Tampa, while the Ravens go down to face Mario Williams at the Houston Texans.

6. Oh Mr. Flacco, I am not quite done with you yet my friend. You officially scored the slowest 38 yard running touchdown in the history of the NFL. Please, if you haven’t seen it yet, please check it out on youtube asap. But come on Bengals, what the hell were you guys doing letting this slower than slow quarterback rumble for 38 painfully slow yards. Just to let you know Marvin Lewis, you might be coaching the most uninspired team in the league. Good luck getting them amped for their next game against Tennessee.

7. Speaking of the Titans, I hope everything is fine with Vince Young down in Dixieland. According to his mother, Young has not been in the best emotional state and does not want to play football anymore. I hope Vince makes the right decision and if he needs to get help that he does just that.

8. As much as it hurts me to say this, the NFC West may be the most pathetic division in NFL History. Had the Cardinals and 49ers not been battling each other, no team would have probably won as the Rams were crushed by Philly and the Seahawks looked pathetic against the Bills.

9. One of my biggest gripes with this first week is how everyone is crowning the Jets as the top dog in the AFC East. Did everybody forget that they were only 1 play away from losing to the previousli 1-15 Miami Dolphins. Also, the Jets needed a miracle Brett Favre heave to score one of their tocuhdowns. I’m sorry to say this and I know I will be offending a lof of you Favre fans out there, but that touchdown wa spure luck and 9 out of 10 times that will be an interception.

10. After watching them destroy Seattle in every facet of the game, I think the Bills will pose the biggest threat to the Bradyless Patriots. If the can contiue to get quality performances from Marshawn Lynch and make big plays in the special teams, the Bills could surprise some teams in the AFC this season.

11. Every year I think it will be the year that the Jaguars will take down the Colts in the AFC South. This year I was certain would be the year and how do they repay me, by flopping in their opener against Tennesee. Now I’m not saying there is no chance that they will win it, but come on guys. It’s time to take over that top spot. If you don’t want to do it for yourselves, please do it for ME!

12. As good as I think Dallas is, Philly is going to give them a run for their money in the East this year. they might not beat them out, but the Eagles will be a Playoff team this year.

13. It’s just great that football season is back and it gives me something to look forward to on Sundays. Ben Franklin once said that beer is proof that god loves us, well I think you can add football to that statement as well.

September 4, 2008

At my time at Quinnipiac University I have sat through and learned during a tough Calculus class, I have pondered and understood the great thinkers like Socrates and Plato, and I have even sat through a class that was totally about Karl Marx. During all these classes I have been able to learn the concepts and understand why Calculus works like it does and why men like Socrates, Plato and Marx thought like they did. However, there is one thing I might never understand about college. It has nothing to do with the classroom or any organization I have been a part of. So what is it that i can’t understand… College students obsession with the game Ultimate Frisbee.

Before i took my first steps onto our Hamden campus, I had never even heard of ultimate frisbee. I probably had thrown a frisbee maybe a half a dozen times in my entire life. And in all honesty, I couldn’t throw a frisbee if my life depended on it. It wobbles for the first half of its flight and then somehow magically straightens out in the end. I’ve seen a frisbee thrown 10 different ways and I couldn’t do any of them. I think my dog would laugh at me if I tried to throw a frisbee for him to catch.

I don’t know why, but I have never understood the fascination with the frisbee, especially with college kids. Was everyone given some pill at orientation that made you love ultimate frisbee? Was I in the bathroom when they were handing them out?

Maybe it’s my addiction to sports that involve contact that can explain my reasoning for not being a frisbee fanatic. I love playing sports like football where you get tackled, basketball where you can get thrown to the floor and fouled every time down court and soccer where I have been headbutted enough to cause brain damage (which if you asked the people who know me, they’d say that i definitely have lost a few brain cells).

Sports like tennis volleyball, and ultimate frisbee don’t seem as exciting because of their lack of contact. However, before you frisbee fanatics, bombard me with comments about how great frisbee is and that I don’t know what I am talking about, read this first. The next time you are organizing a game of your beloved sport leave me a comment of when and where, and I will show up and pop my ultimate frisbee cherry and try to play the game you enjoy. But just one warning, if you invite me to play, you probably won’t want me on your team.

April 24, 2008

Mia Hamm has been the face for U.S. women’s soccer for a very long time. Hamm’s prestigious soccer career began while playing at the University of North Carolina. It was even said that some of her teammates called her “Jordan” because his airness had also been a star athlete at UNC. Hamm then moved on to help the U.S. National team win the World Cup in 1991 and 1999, and third place finishes in 1995 and 2003.

Like many other female athletes before her, Hamm encouraged girls to get out there and play sports. She wanted to girls to know they could be great athletes as well and to know that they might even be able to compete with the guys.

April 23, 2008

There may not be another female athlete out there that fought more against sexism than the great Billie Jean King. King, who will always be remembered for her fight against sexism, was also one of the best female tennis players ever. During her career that spanned 5 decades, King nabbed 12 Grand Slam titles, which included 6 Wimbledon titles. King was also a double splayer as she an impressive 16 Grand Slam doubles titles and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.

One match the legendary King will always be remembered for is her match against former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs. Riggs, who is a man, was 55 years old at the time of the match, but King’s victory over Riggs was considered a huge milestone in King’s fight against sexism. In a world where sexism is still seen, especially in Sports, it’s a shame that we don’t see more female athletes that are outspoken against this today.

April 22, 2008

When most hear the last name Miller and the word basketball in the same sentence, they quickly think about long time Indiana Pacers sharpshooter Reggie Miller. However, some would argue that he might not have been the best basketball player in his family.

Reggie’s sister Cheryl Miller may be one of the greatest women’s basketball players to set foot on this great planet Earth. Miller was a dominant force during her college career at USC. So dominant was Miller, she was named the Naismith College Player of the Year three times. You want to know how good Miller really was? Well, I’m glad you asked because after her time at USC, she was drafted into the USBL, which if you didn’t know is a men’s league. That means that some thought she was good enough to run with the boys.

Now that would be a sight to see. Cheryl and Reggie squaring off to see who is the better Miller

April 17, 2008

There is no way that you could start to talk about greatest female athletes without starting with Jackie Joyner Kersee. In fact, Kersee may be the ulitmate female athlete as she was a track superstar that specialized in the heptathlon. For those of you that do not know what the heptathlon is, it is a competition that includes seven events. The seven events are 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meter, long jump, javelin, and 800 meter race. This event is so demanding because one needs speed for the short races, endurance for the long race, the abilitiy to jump for the high and long jump, and strength to shot put and throw a javelin. Not an easy task at all. However, Kersee made it look effortless on her way to gold medals in the event during the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.

In a sport whose integrity has suffered dearly because of athletes taking performance enhancing drugs, Kersee had always maintained that she has stayed drug free and should serve as an inspiration to female athletes around the globe.

April 16, 2008

After last week’s blog on the three-sport athlete, I received a comment from a classmate that I had used “he” to describe all three-sport athletes. In reality, this athlete can be a “she” as well and I apologize for not making that distinction in my blog. There are many high school girls that particpate in three sports while they are in school.

In fact, my sister is one of them as she plays soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter, and golf, yes golf in the spring. My sister, who hadn’t kicked a soccer ball from the age of 6 to 16 joined the soccer team during her junior year and this past year as a senior was one of the team’s best defenders. She has always been one of the top players in her conference for basketball as she has been recruited by Division III Fairleigh Dickinson of Florham Park. The last two years she has picked up the game of golf and has improved a ton over that time. My point being that if anyone should have recognized the abiltiies of girls as three-sport athletes it should have been me as I could have looked right at my family for proof.

Title IX has opened the door for many girls who may never had a chance to compete in sports in high school and at the collegiate level. So, in a special dedication, my blog this week and the next will chronicle some of the top women athletes the world has seen.

April 10, 2008

To change up the normal routine and explore a new territory, I am going to focus on youth and high school athletes. Today I was at my internship at the North Haven Citizen and as normal I was helping with the layout of the Sports section. With the spring sports getting underway last week, the newspaper began doing its previews and had its first batch of scores for the spring teams. As I looked at some of the names in the box scores, I noticed that a number of students were on teams that had just finished up their winter seasons. All of this got me to thinking about the rare, high school “three-sport athlete.”

Back in the day (I use this for lack of a better term) the “three-sport athlete” was a thriving member of society in high schools around the country. This athlete would play America’s three most popular sports: football, basketball, and baseball. Not only would he play these sports, but he would excel in all of them equally. But nowadays, it is rare for kids in middle school to play three or more sports, as coaches and parents want them to have total focus on being good at one.

Personally, I believe this is the wrong way to go as Patrick Welsh, a contributing writer to USAToday.com would agree. Throughout my life, I played soccer and baseball in the fall, basketball and indoor soccer during the winter, and soccer and baseball again in the spring. Today, it was refreshing to see high schoolers that are participating in more than one sport, as I hope more athletes will do the same

All season long, Memphis had struggled to make free throws as they were second to last in the nation in this category. Head coach John Calipari downplayed his team’s struggles all season, but when it counted the most, the Tigers came up short. Memphis managed to miss four out of its last five free throws and left the door open for Mario Chalmers to bury the game-tying 3 that was the ultimate dagger into the hearts of the Tigers.

So before anyone takes my idea and runs with it, I’m starting the filming of my epic horror film, A Memphis Nightmare!

April 8, 2008

Sob. Sigh. Sob. Sigh…. It’s over. Finished. Gone. I must wait another year to see her again. Good old March Madness will be walking out of my life around midnight tonight and will not be coming back till (Gulp)… Next March.

Sob. Sigh. Sob. Sigh…. Ok, I need to get a hold of myself here. Before she leaves me for a while, she will be presenting me with one more gift, the National Championship Game. For the last time until November, I will be in hoops heaven while watching a college basketball game. Tonight’s game will feature two of the most athletic teams in Kansas and Memphis. Both teams like to play an up-tempo style of basketball. I like Kansas’s team, but I think John Calipari and his crew will be taking home the hardware tonight. The Tigers will overwhelm the Jayhawks as Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey will all have big games.